Lifeless, coughing up pucks like lung fluid and checked to a near standstill by the Boston Bruins, about all the Winnipeg Jets were doing by the end of the second period was hanging around, down 1-0 after a stunning punch to the gut eight seconds into the second.

“We were going in the wrong direction,” is how head coach Claude Noel would put it, citing negative emotions on the bench.

Somehow, with still 12 days before Easter, the Jets came back to life, thanks to a power play goal midway through the third.

Next thing you know, they’re celebrating an unlikely two points against the Stanley Cup contenders in black and gold.

And perhaps taking one more step on the road to reaching their own potential, whatever that is.

“It speaks volumes about our team,” Noel said, before making a daring comparison.

“That’s exactly the lessons you need to learn. In the playoffs this happens all the time. You’ve got to stay on task. That’s what you do when you win in the end.”

The Jets, of course, are nowhere near winning in the end, never mind being close to clinching a post-season berth.

But they did get rewarded for this latest step, clamouring back atop the precarious Southeast Division seat, where the view is considerably different than the one on the congested eighth-place playoff line.